Method of forming tufted cushion elements



May 16, 1967 a. z. LANDE METHOD OF FORMING TUF ELEMENTS TED CUSHION Filed Nov. 26, 1965 Z7 INVENTOR. Bernard Z. Lande BY I k A? A ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,320,108 METHOD OF FORMING TUFTED CUSHION ELEMENTS Bernard Z. Lande, 161 S. Benton St., Denver, Colo. 80226 Filed Nov. 26, 1963, Ser. No. 325,847 4 Claims. (Cl. 156-219) This invention relates generically to the upholstering art wherein cushioned areas on pieces of furniture are shaped and indented to form patterns and designs. The general formation of the above areas is referred to as tufting and is accomplished in many ways such as by filling the raised portions with individual padding and stitching or tying back the indented portions.

Since the introduction of plastic foams, tufting has been attempted by thermo deformation and vulcanization of the foam padding. This method requires exceedingly expensive and complicated metal dies to withstand the necessary pressures and carry the necessary heat. Such methods are not commercially practical except for the mass production of identical pieces.

This invention relates specifically to a rapid and economical method and means for tufting cushion pieces which can be readily used in local upholstering shops and which can be quickly, easily and economically adapted to produce any desired tufted designs.

A further object is to provide an economical and highly efficient tufting method which will eliminate the stitching and tying of the earlier methods and the expensive metal dies and heating equipment of the latter methods.

Other objects and advantages reside in the detail construction of the invention, which is designed for simplicity, economy, and efficiency. These will become more apparent from the following description.

In the following detailed description of the invention, reference is made to the accompanying drawing which forms a part hereof. Like numerals refer to like parts in all views of the drawing and throughout the description.

In the drawing:

FIGS, 1-5, schematically illustrate sequential steps in this improved method which will be hereinafter described in detail;

FIGS. 6 and 7 similarly illustrate alternate steps; and

FIG. 8 illustrates a typical finished piece.

In this economical method, a mold is employed carrying the desired tufted design. The mold may be formed by gluing, or otherwise mounting, wooden pattern strips 12 upon a backboard 13 which may be an inexpensive panel of wooden plyboard. The pattern strips project uniformly upward from the backboard 13 to a height corresponding to the depth of tufting desired and follow the pattern of the desired tufted design and the outline of the finished piece. Such a mold can be quickly assembled, used and discarded, even for a single desired piece with very little expenditure of time and materials.

The selected mold is then placed upon a work table or bench and a sheet of the selected cover fabric 14 is laid over the entire mold and pressed by hand into the various pockets between the pattern strips 12 as shown in FIG. 1. To facilitate retension of the cover fabric 14 in the pockets, it is preferred to have a patch 15 of adherent material mounted on the backboard 13 in the bottom of each of the pockets.

The patches 15 may be of any type which will temporarily adhere to the cover fabric. In actual use, the patches are pieces of Velcro, a flexible fiber tape having pressure-adhesive coatings upon both its top and bottom faces and which is available upon the open market.

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A quick-drying transparent adhesive such as an aminoacetate plastic solution is now sprayed or brushed on the back side of the cover fabric 14 over all of the ridges formed by the upwardly extending pattern strips so as to form a relatively thick first layer of adhesive 17 conforming to the desired pattern, as shown in FIG. 2.

A fiat pad of resilient plastic foam 18 is now placed over the patterned first adhesive layer 17 and a relatively thick second layer 19 of quick-drying transparent adhesive is applied to the back side of the plastic foam sheet, as indicated at 20 in FIG, 2. The second adhesive layer need not cover the entire area of the plastic pad but should at least provide a relatively thick adhesive plastic layer over those portions of the pad which are positioned directly above the pattern strips 12.

A backing sheet of open mesh fabric 21, such as theatrical gauze, is now spread smoothly over the second adhesive layer 19, as shown in FIG. 4, and a press plate 22 is positioned over the backing sheet 21 and forced downwardly, as shown in FIG. 5, until the pad 18 is completely flattened to a minimal thickness over the pattern strips and the adhesive is forced completely through the compressed portions of the pad to provide a continuous cross section of adhesive extending from the back of the cover sheet 14 through the pad 18 and through the backing sheet 21 over the entire areas of the tops of the pattern strips 12, The press plate 22 is left in the C0111- pressed position.until the adhesive has completely set. It is then removed and the finished piece is lifted from the mold, inverted and trimmed to form the finished tufted piece, such as shown in FIG. 8, with indentations 23 and raised portions 24, conforming in design to the pattern selected for the mold and with a border strip 27 equal in thickness to the combined thickness of the backing sheet 21, the cover sheet 14 and the completely compressed pad 18.

The essential feature of the improved tufting method resides in the fact that the pores and interstices of the foam pad, at the indentations, are completely closed and completely surrounded by solidified adhesive so that 2 cross section through the bottom of an indentation at any point will show a solid plastic cross section reinforced by the fibers of the cover sheet 14, the pad 18, and the backing sheet 21.

If it is desired to be certain that the porous structure of the pad along the design lines is completely brokendown and impregnated, an additional step may be added as shown in FIG. 6, prior to the pressing step of FIG. 5 in which the pattern lines are rolled, as indicated at 25 to pump the thick layer 17 of plastic adhesive into the interstices of the foam plastic pad before pressing the latter.

The first step of FIG. 1, if performed with care, can be accomplished without the assisting patches 15 or, i: desired, a vacuum nipple 26 can be inserted through the back board 13 into each of the pockets between the pattern strips 12, as illustrated in FIG. 7, and connected tc a vacuum source for drawing and holding the cover sheel 14 downwardly in the pockets.

The pressure plate 22 may be a relatively thick metaj plate forced downwardly by means of jackscrew or t hydraulically actuated plunger or plungers. The plate could, if only a few jobs were contemplated, be weightet with heavy weights to compress the cushion element: against the pattern strips.

While the pad 18 has been described as being formec' from sheet foamed plastic, the method is equally applicable to any resilient, compressible, fibrous or cellular material capable of being compressed-into a substantially solic state. For instance, it could be formed from a continuous sheet of wool or cotton batting, spanish moss or similai iaterial since there 'is no thermal or chemical action etween the pad and the cover and backing sheets.

While specific forms of the invention have been de- :ribed and illustrated herein, it is to be understood that 165211118 maybe varied,'within the scope of the appended laims, without departing from the spirit of the invention. Having thus described the invention, what is claimed [1d desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A method of forming tufted cushion elements comrrsmgz.

(a) mounting upstanding pattern strips upon a backing board to form open-topped pockets of uniform height upon said board;

(b) spreading a fabric cover sheet over said Pockets;

(c) depressing the cover sheet into the pockets to form upstanding ridges conforming to the desired pattern;

(d) applying a layer of adhesive along the upper crests of said ridges;

(e) placing a unitary pad of resiliently compressible material over said adhesive layer;

(f) applying a second layer of adhesive on the upper surface of said pad along and over the positions of said ridges;

(g) placing a continuous sheet of backing fabric over said second layer of adhesive;

(h) placing a flat press plate over said backing fabric and forcing said plate downwardly to compress said pad to a substantially solid state impregnated with adhesive over and along said ridges; and thence (i) maintaining said compression until said adhesive has fully set.

2. A method as described in claim 1 including temporarily attaching the depressed cover sheet to the bottoms of said pockets before applying adhesive along the upper crests of said ridges.

3. A method as described in claim 1 including applying a rolling pressure to said pad along the tops of said ridges before applying said backing fabric thereover.

4. A method as described in claim 1 including creating a partial vacuum in the bottoms of said pockets to retain said fabric cover sheet in said pockets before applying adhesive along the upper crests of said ridges.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,618,581 11/1952 Lyijynen 156290 X 2,670,501 3/1954 Michiels 156210 X 2,946,713 7/1960 Dusina et a1 156219 XR 3,012,926 12/1961 Wintermute et al. 156290 X 3,072,520 1/1963 Groth 156--292 X 3,116,569 1/1964 Kramer 156292 X 3,257,263 6/1966 Miller 1611 19 EARL M. BERGERT, Primary Examiner.

P. DIER, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A METHOD OF FORMING TUFTED CUSHION ELEMENTS COMPRISING: (A) MOUNTING UPSTANDING PATTERN STRIPS UPON A BACKING BOARD TO FORM OPEN-TOPPED POCKETS OF UNIFORM HEIGHT UPON SAID BOARD; (B) SPREADING A FABRIC COVER SHEET OVER SAID POCKETS; (C) DEPRESSING THE COVER SHEET INTO THE POCKETS TO FORM UPSTANDING RIDGES CONFORMING TO THE DESIRED PATTERN; (D) APPLYING A LAYER OF ADHESIVE ALONG THE UPPER CRESTS OF SAID RIDGES; (E) PALCING A UNITARY PAD OF RESILIENTLY COMPRESSIBLE MATERIAL OVER SAID ADHESIVE LAYER; (F) APPLYING A SECOND LAYER OF ADHESIVE ON THE UPPER SURFACE OF SAID PAD ALONG AND OVER THE POSITIONS OF SAID RIDGES; (G) PLACING A CONTINUOUS SHEET OF BACKING FABRIC OVER SAID SECOND LAYER OF ADHESIVE; (H) PLACING A FLAT PRESS PLATE OVER SAID BACKING FABRIC AND FORCING SAID PLATE DOWNWARDLY TO COMPRESS SAID PAD TO A SUBSTANTIALLY SOLID STATE IMPREGNATED WITH ADHESIVE OVER AND ALONG SAID RIDGES; AND THENCE (I) MAINTAINING SAID COMPRESSION UNTIL SAID ADHESIVE HAS FULLY SET. 